An Independent Voice That Advocates For The Classroom Educator Without The Corrupting Politics Tied To Our Union And DOE Leadership.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Why Are Teachers Taking More Days Off? Its The Increased Stress And Lower Morale Stupid!

The New York Post published an articlethat showed an astonishing 16% of the teachers took eleven or more days off during the 2013-14 school year. The DOE and the union couldn't explain the 10% increase in teachers taking more than the contractual ten sick days off. Of course the clueless Eric Nadelstern had his own idea and blamed in on retiring teachers who decided to take the extra days off. However, the truth is that the increasing stress of teaching in the classroom and the demonetization of teachers by the media and our Governor has added to that stress. The result is morale for New York City teachers is probably at an all time low and that's why teachers are taking more sick days than they are allowed in any one school year.

When Bill de Blasio became Mayor and appointed Carmen Farina as Chancellor, UFT President Michael Mulgrew proclaimed that there was a different tone out of Tweed. However, its still the "gotcha mentality" when it comes to the classroom. Administrators are still dumping outrageous amount of paperwork on teachers, questioning their scholarship when teachers don't pass enough of their students, and failing to change much of the Bloomberg/Klein inspired policies that make teaching in the classroom a hostile environment.

School after school I travel to, the teachers tell me the same thing. "I can't wait to get enough years in the system so I can retire". While all the teachers I encounter (there are a few exceptions) really care about the students, they just can't take the abuse anymore as the mind numbing mandates that emanate out of the DOE and implemented by the school administration makes going to work a chore. Moreover, its no fun for the classroom teacher who must spend their own money on supplies and even copying paper not to mention the totally ridiculous professional development that wastes our time for 90 minutes every Monday and 60 minutes every Tuesday. Finally, having the largest class sizes in the State only adds to the already stressful classroom environment as Governor Cuomo has shorted the City $2.5 billion dollars that was to reduce class sizes.

If the City and Union wants to reduce the amount of "sick time" teachers take, then make the classroom a less stressful and hostile place by providing the necessary resources, reduce class size, and most importantly, let teachers teach that best help their students rather than being yanked around by the DOE mandates that are passed down to the schools that simply add unnecessary paperwork and added stress to the job.

10 comments:

As for principals and APs pressuring teachers to pass failing students, another form of criminal scrubbing, it is sad that teachers don't revolt and blow the whistle. Of course, this is risky and maybe fatal to the untenured, but if enough of us reported violations of Article 8D,this evil practice would cease.

But of course we can't count on Mulgrew to get out front on the crime of falsifying grades. Like Randi he was silent on scrubbing Regents and test security. But maybe his ballyhooed "Truth Commission" will investigate. As if.

I would like to know how these teachers are getting away with taking more than 10 days off. Are they all dipping into their CAR's? Are they getting doctors notes? The DOE can and will bring up teachers on charges if they take too many days off without documentation. As for me, I am saving my CAR days so I can cash them in when I retire. Yes, teaching is more stressful than ever but I am not going to let the system beat me down. (I also like having a bunch of days in my CAR just in case I get seriously hurt and need to take time off from teaching)

If teachers pass students (even if they don't deserve it) they get left alone. They are seen as a team player. The teacher who rightfully fails students gets labeled as a problem and is probably more likely to be observed.

To Anonymous 7:58,So true. Once at Cobble Hill, 27 of 29 students in my Global History class miserably failed. Principal Ken Cuthbert gave me a U and reported me to SCI that shoved the case over to OSI that dropped it for lack of evidence. Later, when I cross-examined Cuthbert at the appeal hearing and asked him what evidence he had that I falsified the 27 failures, all he would say was, "I stand on the record." But there was no record of evidence! Naturally, my appeal was denied.

In my travels I see a lot of teachers coming in seriously sick. They have used up all their days (this winter and last have been brutal) and don't want to risk getting in trouble and/ or docked. One young teacher I met in broke her wrist in school while slipping on some trash. She only took 1 day off! She told me she was afraid of taking anymore than that. The new teachers are unaware of FMLA and its use for serious illness and that you're covered by a line of duty injury if hurt on the job. Truthfully, I was amazed it was only 16% last year. The only reason the media is reporting it is to cast a negative light on teachers. Today the NY Post also insinuated that all ATRs are incompetent when discussing DiBlasio's battle with Coumo.

The 10 day limit is for self treated. If you have a doctor's note you can go well above that(at your own risk of being harassed). Let's not forget that many NYC public school teachers don't live anywhere near their schools. NYC also only closes schools if there is an apocalypse, so with these snow storms we get tons of absences. We've had over half of our staff of 60 out before.